


Shall We Dance

by HMS_Chill



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Dancing, Dancing Lessons, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, I spent way too long thinking about those, I'm still working on that intimacy thing so enjoy, M/M, Post-Canon, Waltzing, alex's competency kink, and they've gone public, dancing in the kitchen, halloween costumes mentioned, henry is Good at Everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-19 14:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20326585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: Alex can dance. But Alex's dancing specialties are essentially limited to the Cupid Shuffle, the Cha-Cha Slide, and the Macarena. Henry has a whole different set of dancing skills, ones developed over centuries and passed down through royal bloodlines and crown-mandated childhood lessons. And, well, who wouldn't want to waltz with a prince?





	Shall We Dance

Waltzing isn't sexy. Like, objectively, there are much sexier dances than a waltz. Alex's version of the Macarena is, objectively, sexier than a waltz (though, admittedly, he dances a very slutty Macarena). But somehow Henry, waltzing with Bea at a charity ball, is one of the sexiest, most beautiful things Alex has ever seen. They're both obviously good. They waltz like it's second nature, like Henry grew up spinning Bea through ballrooms just like this. Knowing what he does about their upbringing, Alex wouldn't doubt that is exactly the case. Henry leans forward to say something, and Bea laughs, and their easy comfort with the dance and each other is palpable across the room. Then Henry spins her, and he makes eye contact with Alex as he does, and he winks. And well. If that easy confidence isn't something.

When the dance finishes and Henry rejoins him, the first thing out of Alex's mouth is, "You should teach me that."

"Teach you to waltz?"

"It's only fair. I taught you the traditional American dance known as the dry hump."

"I'm not sure that counts as a traditional dance."

"I'll teach you the Cha-Cha Slide? The Macarena? Actually I don't think your family would approve of my Macarena, but I'll teach you the Cha-Cha Slide."

"That offer I'll take. When I get a chance, I'll chat with Bea and see if she'll help teach you the follow? I only ever learned the lead, thanks to an obsession with gender norms and the like."

-

Which is how, the next morning, Alex finds himself in the music room in Kensington, standing facing Henry while Bea positions his left hand on Henry's shoulder. He's already holding Henry's hand with his right, and Bea keeps pushing his elbow up when he lets it droop.

"When we start, you'll move your right foot back, and keep your upper body straight. Then you'll move your left foot back but parallel, about a foot away. Then bring your right to meet it," Bea says, "and that will be the first measure, then you'll do the same thing but forwards, starting with your left. You should be able to tell when Henry's going to move, too, and that should help. Ready?"

Alex nods, and Henry smiles. His free hand comes up to settle on Alex's shoulder blade, supporting Alex's arm, and for a split second, Alex thinks he might not be ready after all. He's having a hard time remembering anything Bea's said with Henry's arm around him. 

"And ready, two three, set, two three, one, two three," Bea counts. On 'One, two three', Alex feels Henry start to move, and he steps back with his right foot. Then he steps straight back with his left, and he doesn't have a third step, and he's thrown everything off. Henry pulls him in for a kiss anyway. 

"Here, Alex, practice the steps with me. Henry will count for us," Bea offers, coming to stand beside Alex. Henry steps back to count, and as he counts, Bea murmurs, "right, side together; left, side together." It takes a few tries, but when Alex has his feet right, she coaches him a bit about how to move, how to hold his body and his head and his hands. Everything has a place to belong, and he does his best to remember them.

When he's done everything right a few times, Henry steps back in, wrapping an arm around Alex to take the lead. Alex is sure that he knew how to breathe at some point. He's been doing it for twenty-odd years, so surely his body won't forget now. Henry is smiling at him, his hand resting casually on Alex's shoulder blade while Bea positions Alex's hand just so around a muscle in Henry's shoulder.His general knowledge of how breathing works gets a bit hazier as Bea tells him to focus on how Henry's muscle feels and how he's moving. 

"Just follow my lead," Henry says, oozing an easy confidence that heats the room a few degrees. Bea steps back to count for them, and they make it through a few measures before Alex inevitably takes a wrong step. Henry laughs a bit but pushes through, gently guiding them into a turn, and Alex does his best to keep up with his lead. Bea starts a song, something with three beats that Alex vaguely recognizes but is too focused on his feet to name. He hears the door close, and Bea is gone, leaving the two of them to dance.

"Would you like to try a spin?" Henry asks. Alex nods, still partly focused on getting the steps right. Henry smiles. "We'll do the first three beats like normal, then you turn to the left. Just come back to me by the end of the measure and we'll pick up like normal."

He releases Alex, raising an arm, and Alex spins. He comes back too quickly, and his hand on Henry's shoulder is positioned the wrong way, but Henry just laughs and makes it work. The song ends, and they slow to a stop, neither wanting to let the other go. If anything, Henry pulls him closer than the dance would allow and they stand, facing each other, Alex in Henry's arms.

"That... that was a good idea," Henry says.

"Holy shit. I am so in love with you."

Henry laughs at that, pulling Alex in for a hug. "I'm very in love with you, too."

-

Two days later, when they're back in their own home in Brooklyn, Alex wakes up to an empty bed. He wanders into the kitchen, where he finds Henry making tea and coffee, humming to himself. It's the song Bea picked for them to waltz to. He stops humming when he sees Alex, but Alex comes over to grab his hand, resting his other on Henry's shoulder. 

"Don't stop."

Henry smiles, his free arm wrapping around Alex as he starts to hum again, leading them in a lazily spinning waltz around the kitchen. The morning sun streams in through a window, and in the sunlight and the coffee smell and the comfort of their own home they don't have to worry about being seen or photographed or outed. They don't have to worry about being anything at all. They can be just Henry and Alex, two boys who are very much in love, dancing in their kitchen while coffee brews and water heats and the city outside their window buzzes with life. The world is moving and things are happening around them, but all of that is outside, four brick walls keeping their little world slow and peaceful.

Eventually, Alex is confident enough in the way he's moving his feet to recognize the song. "Once Upon a Dream", from _Sleeping Beauty_. June had made him watch the movie more than once on a trip, and he wonders briefly what ten-year-old June would say if she saw him now, waltzing with a Prince Charming all his own. She'd probably make him give her a turn.

"I am the luckiest man alive," Alex says, so softly he's not sure Henry's heard. He's used to marveling at the way Henry looks, but marveling at the way it feels to be this connected to him, this attuned to every one of his movements is something else entirely. It's not a connection he'd ever expected to feel, at least not in the sunlight and with clothes on. He could never have imagined this, not even in his wildest dreams of their future together could he have pictured them waltzing in their kitchen, all pajamas and bed heads, making the most of the moments before they have to become Prince Henry and First Son Alex for the day. It's more than he could have imagined for either of them.

"That's impossible," Henry says softly, "because I'm the luckiest person alive. I get to date you, and love you, and see the way your hair looks while I spin you around the kitchen in the morning." Alex just rolls his eyes, stealing a kiss as Henry goes back to humming.

They dance until Henry's kettle boils, and he pulls away to tend to it while Alex adds sugar and cinnamon to his coffee. It's the end of their first morning waltz, but far from the last. Henry curates a spotify playlist of songs they can waltz to, and as often as possible, they start their mornings with sleepy kitchen dances, Henry leading as Alex learns to follow. He learns to read the flexing of Henry's arm as easily as he reads the pinching of his lip, and he learns to tell the myriad of hand squeezes apart as easily as he can Henry's smiles. They learn each other all over again, slowly, sleepily, because they have all the time in the world to be just the two of them.

-

On Halloween, two months after the charity ball, the White House Trio hosts a Halloween party on the lawn for the children of D.C. Alex and Henry find themselves near the dance floor, encouraging kids and adults alike to enjoy some Halloween classics. Henry gets pulled into a dance with a little girl in a Leia costume, and he's hunched over to jump in a circle with her when the music changes. Alex appears, tapping her shoulder to say, "Excuse me, but can I borrow him for this dance? You can have him right back after this song, I promise."

The little girl nods, and Henry strands up with a slight frown, taking the hand Alex is holding out. "What is it? Everything alright?"

"Everything is wonderful. Waltz with me, baby," Alex says. Henry smiles, rolling his eyes a bit, but. Well. The song would work for it. His beautiful boyfriend is standing in front of him, dressed as the Sirius Black to Henry's Lupin, ready to follow his lead. So Henry wraps an arm around Alex, just like he does every morning they can, and they dance. In the background, Annie Lennox sings, "I put a spell on you, because you're mine. You know I love you."

Alex sings along softly. There are cameras around; this whole event is great press for his mom. Someone will take a picture of this, and his image will never be quite back to the carefree-party-going-millennial it was before, but that doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as it would have last year. The world has seen his messy soul; they can see a few photos of him waltzing with his boyfriend.

The song ends, and as promised, Alex returns Henry to little Leia. An hour later, when the "Cha-Cha Slide" comes on, Henry finds Alex and together, with lots of laughter and encouragements to loosen up, Alex and Nora pass on the traditional American dance. 

-

The next morning, they wake up in the White House, but Henry still pulls Alex into a sleepy waltz around his room, softly humming "I Put a Spell on You".

And what a spell it is.

**Author's Note:**

> I stole the title of this from _The King and I_, where there's a song called "Shall We Dance" where two characters bond while she teaches him the polka. It's not a waltz, but you know. Close enough.  
As another note, I've never actually waltzed. I had one short, unofficial lesson and read a few wikihows but that's where this is coming from.  
-  
I owe the idea for a dancing fic to [this one](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19325230) by Extasiswings; go show it some love!  
-  
As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff and [Hschill5](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hschill5) for anything else! If you wanna leave a comment/kudos/whatever either here or over on tumblr, I'd love that! Cheers!


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